Cashless payment develops rapidly in Vietnam

A payment conducted via mobile banking. The theme for Cashless Day 2024 is 'Promoting safe and secure non-cash payments.' (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - Non-cash payments continue to grow rapidly in Việt Nam, requiring a focus on ensuring payment security, a representative of the State Bank of Việt Nam said at a press conference on Cashless Day 2024 held in Ho Chi Minh City on May 28.

The theme for Cashless Day 2024 is 'Promoting safe and secure non-cash payments.'

According to Le Anh Dung, Deputy Director of the Payment Department under the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), there are 182 million personal payment accounts in Việt Nam as of the end of 2023, with 87.08% of adults owning payment accounts. More than 147 million banking cards are in circulation and 32.77 million e-wallets are active.

Payments conducted via the internet and mobile banking increased by 52% and 103.3% in the 2021-23 period, respectively. Payments via QR Code jumped by 170%.

In the first four months of this year, cashless payments rose 57.11% in volume and 39.59% in value over the same period last year, while transactions via ATMs dropped by 14.15% in volume and 7.84% in value.

Along with the boom in non-cash payments, ensuring security is critical, Dung said.

Banks have been promoting electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) verification technology.

The State Bank of Vietnam has decided that online banking transactions of 10 million VND or higher must be verified by biometric authentication.

Dung said that this regulation aims to protect users, not cause difficulties.

Nguyen Hoang Long, Deputy Director of the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS), said that NAPAS is drafting a set of coordination procedures for banks based on the established regulations, so that banks can coordinate to handle transactions with signs of fraud.

Cashless Day on June 16, an annual event started in 2019, is organised by the Payment Department under the State Bank of Vietnam and Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper.

A conference on enhancing the security and safety of cashless payments will be held on June 14.

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